California voters rejected Proposition 19, to legalize marijuana, in 2010 with 53.5% of the vote.

Source: California Secretary of State

History made, just not here

For the first time in American history, voters approved measures to legalize gay marriage and the recreational use of marijuana. Here’s a look at who did what.

Gay marriage

Voters in Maryland and Washington state upheld their same-sex marriage laws.

Maine voters authorized gay marriage.

Voters in Minnesota rejected a measure to outlaw gay marriage.

Marijuana

Voters in Washington and Colorado approved measures that authorize adults ages 21 and older to possess one ounce of marijuana. Washington’s measure mandates that pot can only be grown by licensed in-state farmers and sold in privately owned, marijuana-only stores. Colorado’s directs the state’s Department of Revenue to regulate the growing and distribution of marijuana.

Source: Register reporting

Top 10 Liberal/Conservative states

Top 10 liberal states

The following states have the highest percentage of residents who self identify as liberal.

Massachusetts 30.3

Oregon 26.4

Washington 26.4

New York 26.1

Hawaii 25.4

California 25.0

New Jersey 24.9

Rhode Island 24.7

New Hampshire 24.4

Connecticut 24.4

The following states have the highest percentage of residents who self identify as conservative.

Mississippi 53.4

Utah 51.0

Wyoming 50.7

Alabama 49.8

Louisiana 48.5

Arkansas 47.9

Oklahoma 47.4

Nebraska 45.8

Idaho 45.6

Tennessee 45.5

Source: Feb. 2012 Gallup report

Graphics

SACRAMENTO – California has a reputation as one of the most liberal states in the nation. And yet, on Election Night, when some voters for the first time in American history approved same-sex marriage and recreational marijuana use, it was in Washington, Colorado and Maine – not California.

In fact, over the last four years, California voters approved a measure to block same-sex marriage and rejected another one to decriminalize pot. This month, while other states were burnishing their progressive credentials, California voters defeated an effort to abolish the death penalty.

What happened to the People's Republic of California?

As you might imagine, there are a few interpretations.

"We're not the most liberal state," says Tony Quinn, the co-editor of the California Target Book, an almanac of legislative and congressional campaigns. "We're purple."

A former Republican legislative staffer, Quinn's take is that California's liberal reputation is a bit overblown. It was only two years ago, he pointed out, that California had a Republican governor in Arnold Schwarzenegger. And while our current, Democratic governor has gotten a lot of attention for persuading Californians to approve his Proposition 30 tax plan, Quinn notes that 46 percent of voters still opposed Jerry Brown's proposal.

Actually, anti-tax sentiment is practically a California trait. Before this month, California voters had rejected eight straight previous tax measures. Since 1990, voters here have rejected 17 of 23 ballot measures to raise taxes, including Proposition 29 on the June ballot, which would have raised cigarette taxes for cancer research.

"It's a liberal state," Quinn said of California, "but not as liberal as Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont."

Sixth-most liberal state

In point of fact, a February report by Gallup, the good folks who give us those polls we talk about so much, found that California was the sixth most liberal state in America, behind Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington, New York and Hawaii. Gallup judged liberalness by how many residents self-identify as liberal. (gallup.com/poll/152459/Mississippi-Conservative-State-Liberal.aspx#1)

A quarter of California's residents call themselves liberals, according to Gallup. More than 30 percent of Massachusetts residents proudly wear that title.

On the other end of the spectrum, only 11 percent of residents in Mississippi, the most conservative state in Gallup's study, call themselves liberal.

But not everyone is convinced that a purple complexion kept California from making progressive-politics history. Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College, said he thinks California is still "pretty darn liberal." Rather, he said, the issue was the supporters of efforts to legalize same-sex marriage and recreational marijuana use.

They shot themselves in the foot, he said.

Think back to what you saw and heard during 2008, when Proposition 8, the measure to ban same-sex marriages, was on the ballot. There was that clip, played over and over again, of then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom saying that gay marriage is coming, "whether you like it or not." Then there were those anti-Prop. 8 ads critical of Mormons. "Hi, we're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," said a man in one prominent ad. "We're here to take away your rights."

Related Links

California rejected legalized marijuana while Washington and Colorado approved measures that allowed restricted use and growing of pot.
Lauren Snead, right, hugs her partner, Katy Jayne, left, as they celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage Nov. 6 in Portland, Maine. Snead and Jayne plan to marry in the near future. When voters for the first time in American history approved same-sex marriage and recreational marijuana use, it was in states like Washington, Colorado and Maine – not California. JOEL PAGE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Supporters cheer at a Seattle, Wash., election watch party for proponents of Referendum 74, which would uphold the state's new same-sex marriage law. ELAINE THOMPSON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Todd Jernigan said in 2008, "I am for them calling it a civil union, but is not a marriage. Marriage is between a man and a woman." FILE: ROSE PALMISANO, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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